Event: Brooklyn Magazine Fall 2011 Issue Launch Party

After a long day of trolling around SoHo I decided to make the trek over the bridge for Brooklyn Magazine’s Fall Issue Launch Party at Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. The venue alone intrigued me more than the free booze and ice cream. Yes, this is a rarity. Something else attracted me to an event besides booze and the artist performing. This party had more a laid back feel to it, more like a social. The music was of course great and if I’m correct I did hear Otis. *Salutes Hannah Rad*

More photos after the jump.

Upon walking in we’re presented with the latest issue. Always a nice touch, but at some point during the night I lost mine. That train ride got pretty boring after minute one. If you do not recognize the face on the cover its Theophilus London, and if you’re not familiar with his music his song Stand Alone plays during all the How To Make It In America promos.

As you can see the lay out is beautiful and in typical fashion all the tables had the magazine on them. At some point I was expecting to see some extremely intoxicated attendee slip-n-slide their way into the pond. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. People were civilized, this wasn’t one those rager events, at least I thought so until it got later in the night. One of my later photos is evidence of how things were headed that night.

Oysters were provided and I usually stay away from them but for some reason I tried them again, and yes they were delicious! Throw on some hot sauce and I’m all in. They only had 300 oysters so there wasn’t a chance for seconds sadly. Ice cream and expensive cheeses were also available and of course I had to indulge myself.

This is where the 2 open bars and dance floor were located and yes that’s me with the backpack as usual. Not much dancing went on due to the thirst that needed to be quenched. The lines for the bars got extremely long, so I did what I do best, adapted to the situation — tipped the bartender well and cut the whole line each time — its event survival skills.

This is just a taste of the shenanigans that ensued that night. But everyone I met were great people, and the guy in this photo had me dying. Remember when I said the people were civilized? Well after a few drinks the event got wild and all I could do was sit back and observe.

The organizers, or should I call them unorganizers, of this highly unorganized party invited half of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Instead of a literary party in the traditional sense, with people with real literary connections, it was just another event full of self-involved young douchebags on their phones. Oh, yes, and people who insist on swinging military-size backpacks through crowded events. They ran out of oysters and magazines before I got a single one, after standing on interminable lines, and at that point I gave up on standing on another one trying to get one lousy free beer, or a couple of pieces of cheese. This party sucked, and if you are so civilized and proud of yourself for tipping the bartender to cut the line, then you’re a douchebag too.